books by Elaine Viets (accessory trimmings drop-dead)

books by Elaine Viets

books:

33 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2003

The First Dead End Job Mystery
I loved this book! I have read all most all of these books in no particular order. This was definitely one of the best. It explains how Helen came to live at the Coronado Tropic Apartments, the first encounter with Phil, the mystery of Thumbs, and how Helen came to meet her best friend, Sarah. I think my favorite character has to be Margery, her landlady. Helen's job at the snobby ...

Murder Between the Covers (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 2)

17 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2003

Murder by the Book
Helen takes a job in a bookstore. Life seems to be settling into a routine. She has a cozy home, an interesting job, a boyfriend, and friends at her apartment complex. That all changes when her apartment is swarmed by termites, her boss is murdered, her boyfriend turns into a jerk, and her good friend is arrested. Helen and her landlady systematically investigate until they find the killer.

Just Murdered (Dead-End Job Mystery)

8 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2005

Best in the Series
Many years ago I enjoyed Elaine Viets' columns in the local St. Louis newspaper and I was delighted to find her talents had expanded into fun mystery fiction. The "dead-end jobs" series is funny and engaging and always good for a quick read. This, the 4th in the series i think, has really developed. The characters are more real and believable and because of that I care more about them. I'm ...

Murder with Reservations (Dead-End Job Mysteries)

17 reviews
Elaine Viets

NAL Hardcover, 2007

Funny, fast, beautiful prose and colorful characters
I agonize too much about writing reviews of books I really love, so I'm going to throw all that out the window and tell you that you are going to love this novel. More, you're going to fall in love with Helen and her friends. I am enchanted by novels where I find myself wishing to meet the characters. In this series, I long to spend time by the pool with Helen and Peggy and Margery and Phil. ...

Murder With All the Trimmings: Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2008

A humbug of a Shopping mystery... From The Anthony and Agatha Award-Winning Author of Accessory to Murder Includes insider shopping tips! Mystery shopper Josie Marcus doesn?t get the appeal of the year-round Christmas shop. But when three such holiday houses pop up within two blocks, she?s assigned to rate them anonymously. Easy enough, Josie thinks, until she realizes that shoppers at one store are finding a strange?even deadly?secret ...

Murder With Reservations: A Dead-End Job Mystery

3 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2008

Maid to Order
This Dead-End Job Mystery was the best one I have read so far. It had everything: suspense, intrigue, mystery, revenge, and romance. Helen works as a hotel maid. I gained a lot of insight into this thankless occupation. After a couple of weeks on the job, Helen discovers a dead body in the hotel dumpster. To add to this stress, her ex-husband, Rob, has tracked her down. The support of her ...

Accessory to Murder (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Book 3)

9 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2007

Best of the Rest
This installment of Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, was the best so far. One of Alyce's neighbors is murdered and Alyce's husband Jake is charged with the murder. This book explores true human nature. We see what Alyce's neighbors do when she is down. Some, figuratively, kick her and rub salt in her wounds. Others are still kind. Josie has a date with someone her Mom wants her to go out with ...

Dying To Call You: A Dead-End Job Mystery

10 reviews
Elaine Viets

Thorndike Press, 2005

Dying To Read More
I was very entertained with this book. Helen's gig as a telemarketer brought back memories of my college days when I gave away free cemetary plots as a telemarketer. It was before computers and we used the phone book. My favorite comeback was, "I don't need it, I am immortal." This story was exciting to the last page. Imagine hearing a murder taking place on the phone. Helen was brave to ...

Murder Unleashed (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 5)

11 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2007

Helen Goes to the Dogs
In this episode of the Dead End Jobs Series, Helen works in a high end dog specialty shop. The shop has two talented dog groomers. It is amazing what people will do for their dogs. High end clothes, jewelry, leashes, and furniture for dogs are available in this store. They even have a pick up and delivery service for grooming. Early on Helen finds a dead body while delivering a freshly ...

Clubbed to Death: A Dead-End Job Mystery

4 reviews
Elaine Viets

NAL Hardcover, 2008

fun Dead End Job mystery
Helen Hawthorne is moving up in the world. She has a new job making over twelve dollars and hour, a credit card, and a cell phone. The only downside is she hates working at Florida's Superior Club where only the ultra wealthy can get in. As a service rep, she feels not much more than a drone listening to the complaints of the members who expect her to satisfy their demands instantly. To make ...

Drop-Dead Blonde

7 reviews
Nancy Martin, Elaine Viets, ...

Signet, 2005

Fabulous Foursome
Do blondes really have more fun? Sure and the authors in this book show that even dying can be a ball. Get ready for four funny stories, each taking a different kind of blonde and showing what can happen when girls just want to have fun. Nancy Martin's "Slay Belles," puts Nora Blackbird on the trail of a shopaholic who will do anything for the perfect purse. Dogs, sisters, and the general ...

Dying in Style

1 review
Elaine Viets

Signet Book, 2005

Review of the Mystery Shopper...
In the 1st book in the Mystery Shopping Mystery series, we meet Josie Marcus, a single-mom with a career in the mystery shopping field. As a mystery shopper, Josie is sent to visit many types of businesses, and then rates their service without the store knowing that she is rating them. She goes to restaurants, discount stores, and high-end retailers to evaluate the courtesy of the sales-staff, ...

High Heels are Murder (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Book 2)

8 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2006

Pull Up Your Boots and Wade In
Josie Marcus, professional shopper, gets in the middle of another murder. She goes into a high end shoe store and discovers the wonderful salesperson really, I mean really likes shoes. The busybody neighbor wants Josie to help her daughter, a longtime rival of Josie's because police suspect her in the murder of "the creepy salesman." Excellently written. This book moves along quickly ...

Dying in Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Book 1)

15 reviews
Elaine Viets

Signet, 2005

The perfect accessory to any outfit!
Most women would love to be paid to spend their days shopping; but for Josie Marcus, mystery shopper extraordinaire, it's a full-time job that can be just as exhausting as sitting behind a desk. Sure, schlepping from boutiques to fast-food restaurants, supermarkets to gas stations, and everything in between sounds fun; but it can be downright challenging when you're attempting to raise a ...

ACCESSORY TO MURDER (MYSTERSHOPPER SERIES, BOOK 3)
ELAINE VIETS

PENGUIN PUBLISHER, 2007

"Retail spy and single mom Josie Marcus knows that mystery shopping isn't always glamorous-like when she has to sample greasy fast food...or her best friend's husband, Jake, is accused of murder. Someone has killed Halley Hardwicke, the hot young designer of thousand-dollar Italian silk scarves, in the mall parking lot. Now the police suspect Jake, who lives near the wrap maven's home, because Halley and he were a little too neighborly. So Josie ...